Simon W. Tudor

Simon Woodson Tudor (November 5, 1887 -- May 10, 1956) was a prominent educator, businessman, church and civic leader, and philanthropist in the central Louisiana city of Pineville in the first half of the twentieth century.

Tudor was born in Madison County, Kentucky, to James A. Tudor and the former Malinda Alice Turner. He was educated first at Georgetown College in Georgetown, Kentucky. He then relocated to Pineville, which is located east of the Red River from the larger city of Alexandria. He received his bachelor's degree from Baptist-affiliated Louisiana College in Pineville in 1913. While he attended Louisiana College, he was also the athletic director and the football, basketball, and baseball coach from 1910-1913 and again, after his graduation, from 1914-1917. He coached at the Methodist-affiliated Centenary College in Shreveport in 1912. He taught school in Vernon Parish from 1913-1914. He concluded his brief educational career as a principal in Pineville public schools from 1917-1920.

Tudor entered the real estate business, both residential and commercial buildings, in 1920. In 1946, he founded his Tudor Construction Co. and served as the company president until his death.

On September 21, 1913, Tudor married the former Frances Ollie Beall (1894-1992), the daughter of William Columbus Beall and the former Sarah Frances Curry. They had a son, Robert Beall Tudor, Sr. (1914-1987), and a daughter, Dorothy Louise Tudor. Tudor was a deacon of the First Baptist Church of Pineville and a member of the Louisiana College trustess from 1941 until his death. He was the trustees president from 1943-1953. A generous benefactor to the college, Tudor was honored by the naming of the men's dormitory "Tudor Hall".

Tudor is interred in Greenwood Memorial Park in Pineville.

One of Tudor's grandsons is Alexandria attorney Michael Simon Tudor (born 1945), who has been active in the leadership of the Republican Party in Rapides Parish. The other grandson Robert Beall Tudor ( born May 1935) continued doing construction after graduating from Louisiana State University.

References

* "Simon Woodson Tudor", "A Dictionary of Louisiana Biography", Vol. 2 (1988), p. 799
* http://www.lacollege.edu/residential/res_th.php